Karabakh and Khojavend in the Russian empire period. Beginning of Armenian claims

BIn April 1956, the new first secretary of the Communist Party of the Armenian SSR S.Tovmasyan in his message to Moscow said that there were the calls at a party meeting in Yerevan University and at the meeting of the Union of Armenia Writers for the revision of borders with Azerbaijan SSR, the unification of Nagorno Karabakh and Nakhichevan to Armenia.
The Armenian Gregorian Church contributed to the strengthening of nationalist opinions among the Armenians. After the Second World War the Armenian Gregorian Church resumed its activities, recovering from repressions of second half of the 30's. In general, the orientation in the activities of the Armenian Church purely was to the national policy objectives and traditionally prevailed over proper religious functions. The Church has long served as a starting point for connection of Armenians settled in different countries, various political regimes and denominational environment. [more]

Brief history of Karabakh and the Armenian claims.

Coming to the Caucasus in various periods of history, “Armenians” were unaware of each other's existence, and spoke different dialects, that is, there was no concept of a common Armenian language.

When speaking of the presence of “Armenian natives” or “indigenous Armenian Karabakh inhabitants” in Karabakh and Azerbaijan, historians of the Caucasus Studies mean Caucasian Albans who had not accepted Islam and professed instead the Armenian Gregorian faith, turning to Armenians only 3-4 centuries ago.

Since time immemorial, the tolerant and hospitable Caucasus was a “safe haven” for peoples fleeing the tyranny of large empires and religious persecution. Gradually, the ancestors of Armenians found home in the South Caucasus, where they inhabited the lands of Azerbaijan, as well.” [more]

Summer 1967. Instigation by Armenians in Kuropatkino village and its consequences

However, the decision of the Stepanakert court caused uproar among the gathered there Armenians, eager to lynch three Azerbaijanis. They believed that the sentence against the director was mild, and they also wanted to punish the third accomplice. Enraged Armenians attacked the prisoners in the court, guards tried to bring them to the back door and even seat in a police car, but the Armenians were too much, they did not let them leave.

The crowd turned over the car, by force pulled out the sentenced men and organized the lynching on the spot: scored them to death, and then completely burned their corpses. Then it became clear that too passive local Armenian authorities tried to protect the Azerbaijanis prisoners, and Armenians crowd actually was previously prepared and instructed to lynch Azerbaijanis.

Someone in Stepanakert and Yerevan wished to push here Armenians and Azerbaijanis and present to the Soviet leadership as impossibility to live together of two nations, and therefore the need to transfer Nagorno-Karabakh to the Armenian SSR. [more]

Markar Melkonian on Armenian atrocities in his book "My Brother’s Road"

"... In November 1990 Kechel had kidnapped a young Azerbaijani Popular Front activist from a village across the border. The Young Azeri, Syed, spent a month chained to the wall of a cottage near Yerevan. On New Year’s Eve 1991, Kechel and a couple of buddies, including a local police officer and their friend Ardag, dragged their captive to the top Yeraplur, the burial hill near Yerevan. There they kicked Syed to his knees under a spreading tree next to the grave of fellow fighter named Haroot. Then Kechel, a father of three children, began cutting Syed’s throat with a dull knife. At first Syed screamed, but after a while the screaming gave way to moaning and gurgling. Finally, when Ardag could no longer listen, he pushed a knife into Syed’s chest, putting an end to it. They drained Syed’s blood on top of Haroot’s grave and then left." [more]